Open Carb Surgery

It sounded like such a good idea to get a 1966 motorcycle. The reality is I spend more time trying to get it to run than I spend on it. Tonight I bought a new battery, checked the spark plug and cleaned out the carburator. There was rust in the bottom of the carburator which means I need to replace the fuel filter, and ideally clean out the fuel tank from rust, again. So another two hours spent spinning screws and fiddling with old brittle pieces, and it still doesn't start.

The good news is, this is one of the most simple machines I have ever seen. There might be 300 parts on the thing. It is so easy to take parts off and put them back on, provided rust hasn't taken over and the bolt head isn't rounded off. I suppose, working on it is in an engineering sort of way, more interesting than riding it. Well at least for a bit. If you buy old cars they are often in the mechanics shop. If you buy really old vehicles, mechanics often refuse to work on them and you have to do it yourself. Keep that in mind when you offer to buy my 1966 Yamaha YA-6 125 cc monster.